Goodbye Summer!

Well I think maybe it's time to say 'goodbye summer' as our weather has turned wet, windy and cold.  I know people who have turned their heating on already.  Not us - we aren't quite ready to face winter heating bills just yet so I have added an extra afghan to the bed - one that Grandma made - and we're layering up.

I am also taking my brolly to work with me every day now and today I had to use it on my way home.  I just happened to have my camera in my handbag too so I took a few pictures - no where near as pretty as the real thing but 'do you know how hard it is to take pictures while holding your bag, a brolly over your head and trying to stay away from the curb so the cars passing by don't splash you'?  Well it ain't easy!

I'm sure several people wondered just what I was doin but I didn't care.  Everything looked so fresh and vibrant in the rain and I just love this ivy.  It grows all over the place in my neighbourhood and I use it in my Christmas wreath each year.  I even spray the berries gold which look fab.  Green is one of my favourite colours and I love the differing shades of the new leaves against the older ones - so pretty.  I sure hope you can see the rain drops in this shot.

Each day I walk past the historical Abbey Gardens and the river Lark with it's brick columns and old railings and I was overwhelmed by the amount of spiderwebs that were visable thanks to the rain!  I didn't see any spiders in them thankfully but there were tons of webs absolutely everywhere.

It's amazing how they showed up once they were wet and I could've stood there looking at them for ages.  I was however getting wetter by the minute so eventually I gave it up and went on my way but not before I took a few more snap shots.  I realised after I got almost home that I should've looked back behind me and captured a shot up the street with the garden walls over hung with willow trees and the grey, wet scene that was so typical of wet English weather.  Oh well the weather man says there's a whole lot more of this to come so another day maybe.

Think tomorrow I might have to cook a stew and dumplings or maybe a casserole - feels like cold weather comfort food would be good right about now.

My Girls

With everything that has happened in the past couple of weeks I really welcomed a chance to spend some time with family and now that we're back home I am missing them dreadfully.  I guess when you lose a parent the need to be with each other is overwhelming and a week just wasn't long enough!

On my day off this week my eldest daughter (Vicky) was keen to come spend the morning hanging out with me and I was glad of her company.  She has 3 young kiddies and lives across town so she's usually busy but this week she made time for her ol' mum.  Even though they live in the same country I miss my girls.  As they've grown we have so many more 'grown up' interests to share with each other but we all lead busy lives.

When I told Vicky I had jam to make she immediately asked if she could make it while I showed her how.  Sure - isn't that what all good mums do!  Besides I love being in the kitchen with my girls - for me it's the heart of the home.  Actually I love cooking along side my hubby too - it's where I feel most at home and loved.

We buy the strangest things to bring back home - like our Crest Cinnamon toothpaste, paper lunch sacks, Good Season's Italian salad dressing mix (that I find soooo hard to keep in the cupboard once the girls know I have some!) and even canning jars.  These are an everyday item back home but here in the Uk they're a special order item and expensive IF you can get them at all and NO WAY can I get these cute jam jars.  I simply couldn't wait to use em!

They were called 'quilted cystal jelly jars' and were a cute 4oz size.  Even the lids had pretty swirls on them and they even had a smooth place to add the labels that were provided!  ONLY in America!

I had already done all the prep work by the time Vic arrived and we had already picked up some reduced blueberries on a quick supermarket run the day before.  My hubby can't go to the store without checkin out the reduced isle!  You only need 500g to make a batch of jam which makes this easy to do with a couple punnets of reduced fruit. 

Vic got to use the cute jam jars from America but the others in this shot (UK jars) were for my green tomato chutney I also planned to make that day.  These kind of jars are easy to find but they're just not the same for me.

We both had a chance to use mom's measuring cups that I brought home to put in my kitchen.  Barely home with me a few days and we were using them already.  Plus I was able to show Vic lots of 'how to' tips and techniques throughout the process.  She was super impressed and didn't realise it was just that easy to make jam.  Well it is!  I can whip up a batch of this while I am crafting at my table or doing a few other things around the house, checking my emails - no problem.  As long as the prep work is done ahead of time the microwave does the rest and then I stop to fill jars.  Clean up is a breeze too - just the one bowl and a couple other smaller items.  Who wouldn't want to make jam?

I think I have probably shared this recipe before but I'm sharing it again for anyone that's interested.

Microwave Jam

500g berries (I especially love blueberries)
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 cups sugar

Place a dish in freezer to chill.  Clean and sterilise jars.  (I use Milton sterilising tablets, takes 15 minutes in cold water and can be reused for several batches of jars)  Wash and drain berries.  Add lemon juice and microwave on high 5 minutes to soften.  Add sugar, stir well and microwave 10 minutes.  Stir quickly and return to microwave for 10 more minutes on high.  Let stand 1-2 minutes and test small amount on chilled dish - push slighty with finger for 'setting' point - it should be thickened, move forward when pushed but not immediately run back.  It thickens up even more once it cools in jars so a 'thick, ever so slighty runny' is ok.  If not then return for 5 minutes more but no more than this as it's possible to over cook jam.  Fill jars, clean rims (I use a clean cloth that has been sitting in the sterilising water), seal and label.

I have found blueberries and strawberries sometimes need an extra 5 minutes but everything else I've tried works on the 20 minute process.

That's all there is to it.  Anyone can whip up a batch of jam for gift giving in less than half a morning.  Decorate up a package of scone mix (or cheat, take it out of the pack and re-package it up yourself and then decorate) place in a pretty basket or container and you have a super quick, super easy gift idea.

If using small jars it makes 6, larger jars it makes just 3 or 4 depending on size but sometimes that's all you need.  By the time you do strawberries, blueberries, blackberries etc., you have a good years supply!

I have booked a week off to spend with my younger daughter Jess next month so maybe I'll make up the other half dozen jars so I can pass this on to her too.

For now I am struggling to get my craft 'mojo' back so I don't have much crafting to share but I'm guessin it'll come back sometime soon.  I have DT work to get back to and classes to design for so if you've been missin the crafts - you'll just have to hang in there with me till I'm back.  For now family is foremost on my mind so I make no apologies :-).  Besides it's MY blog LOL!

Mom's Kitchen

While we were back home we stayed at mom's same as always.  I can't deny I had a few teary days and on one in particular I felt the need to cook in mom's kitchen like I had done so many times before.  I have always felt right at home in her kitchen and we often found ourselves side by side fixin something for dinner.

Mom had plenty of canning jars so we picked up some strawberries and I decided to make microwave jam to share.  Clearly I wasn't going to bring it back home with me - I already have a good years supply of my own.

After it was made a good root around in mom's craft room turned up a pretty checkered paper sack, pinking shears, string, ink, chalks and a hole punch.  I just love that we sfared a love of crafting.  and since I had taken delivery of the 'friendship jar' stamps from PTI while we were there I decided to test them out and make pretty labels for the jars too.

I had been wanting these stamps for a few months and finally decided to order them right before we knew we were making a sudden trip home.  Mom was always so good about forwarding things like this on to me.

I used a paper mask to shorten up the jar and add labels & text exactly where I wanted it.  Then I used a red coloured pencil to add a 'checkered' topper, aged it using brown ink around all edges, chalked the 'jam' label and punched holes to string it onto the jar.

This shows the tag in a bit more detail.  I was really pleased with the finished effort.  At home I wouldn't always have time to go to this much trouble unless I am giving a jar as a gift but I am so glad I have these stamps, especially with Christmas fast approaching.  I just loved how these cute tags came together - so easy and so effective.

Mom taught me a great many things over the years - not least of which was canning and preserving.  I loved it then and I still love it now.

I promise in my next post I'll share the recipe for microwave jam - it wasn't one of mom's recipes - I found it 'all by myself' but it's super quick and easy and sooooo worth sharing!

Sweet Love

While last week was pretty tough going there were moments that were very special too.  Mom kept so many things even handwritten notes we left her whilst visiting.  I'm ashamed to say if it had been me I'd have thrown them away. 

While going through some of the many letters she kept we came across one she wrote to a candy company shortly after Dave's father (Al) had passed away.  She wrote asking if they could date a heart shaped candy box that he had given her which she knew was at least 25 years old and they replied.  They were able to tell her when it was designed and put into production.

That was it - we were now on a mission to find it!  She had included a photograph and it looked beautiful but we had no idea what size box we were looking for.  Finally we found it and here it is.....

Dave and I knew as soon as we found the plain cardboard box tucked way back in her bedroom closet that it had to hold what we were looking for.  She had described the box including the weight and description on the outer box but we weren't prepared for the sheer size of it.  It was BIG!

There was row after row of pretty lace ruffles and it was simply beautiful to look at and to hold - still in perfect condition - still like new as though it had been bought yesterday.  She obviously cherished it.  She ate the candy inside too darn it - I should've know it was too much to hope for piece of chocolate to still be lurking inside!  I can only imagine how beautiful the candy must've looked once the lid came off.

Nestled in the centre was a beautiful velvet rose - about the size of my hand which should give some idea of how big the whole box was.  It was a real joy to be able to link the letter and the candy heart box together so this token of love can be kept a while longer.

Long before we loved mom she was treasured and adored by the love of her life - Al - and it was heart warming to see the momentos and read the letters that passed between them over the years.  Who knew he was such a romantic?  I sure didn't - until now that is.

I have already related this story a couple of times since we've been back that I just had to share pictures of it.  Besides I wanted to look at it again too.

Mom's Hankies

Mom was never far from one of her pretty hankerchiefs - in fact she became known for them and I was surprised to find that some of her close friends even asked for one of mom's hankies as a keepsake to remember her by.  Who would of thought? -  but seriously they did!  I guess maybe they're not so commom place in America - in fact she bought many of them over here as well as the many we sent her as gifts that were easy to post.

Because she had so many I decided we needed to find a purposeful use for them (other than blowing our noses on them of course) and surfed the internet.

I found this really neat idea from Cindy over at 'Skip to my Lou' and thought I'd quickly share it.

Her idea was to fold the hanky and stitch around leaving an opening and then fill them with lavender to create scented sachets.  How neat is this idea!

I grabbed them from mom's drawer and got to work pressing them.  Usually I hate ironing and I did get tired after the first 20 or so but there was something real comforting about ironing mom's hankerchiefs too so I didn't really mind doing it.

I had to use the machine at mom's house but it was really nice and these things took a matter of minutes to make.  In no time at all I easily had a dozen or more made up.  The hardest part was finding lavender to fill them with.  In fact I had to leave them empty for the girls to fill later cos I drew a blank and ran out of time.

These are just a few of the hankies I stitched - they're gonna make such pretty sented sachets once they're filled.  I brought a few home for me and the girls and even a couple for young Maddycakes to put in her undies drawer.  These ones on top were slightly smaller so I thought they were perfect for Maddy.

This is not only a lovely way to reclaim these hankies (some were gettin dreadfully threadbare) but it means we can each have AND USE something that was so close to mom.  She suffered from sinus trouble so like I say her hankies were never very far away from her.  Now they've been given a new lease of life so thanks Cindy for this fab idea - it was perfect for the job!

Back Home!

Well we're back home again after what has to be one of the toughest week's of my life!  How do you make a trip thousands of miles to bury a parent?  With a HUGE amount of love and support that's how - and that's exactly what got Dave and I through.

We are soooooo very grateful to all his family, to mom's special friends and especially to his brother and sisters who made this do-able and in many ways eased the pain and grief we felt (and still feel).  Don't start me crying again!

I wonder do we ever realise just how important 'family' is?  It isn't gonna be easy keepin in touch without mom to bind us all together but we have to try.

I want to also pay tribute to God who blessed us in so many ways it's impossible to list them all.  We had upgrades we didn't ask for, the smoothest flights we've EVER had - people actually applauded our landing at Heathrow today!  We even had the right connections so it was 10 hours on the international flight rather than the usual 12 and a strong tail wind pushing us home in record time!  We also avoided things that could've been a real problem and had the chance to share this much needed time with family.  Some really precious items of mom's made it home all in one piece - in fact not a single thing got broken - and we even managed to get ALL our luggage in Jilly's car.  Just how I don't exactly know but I should've taken a photo cos we were wedged in so tight it would've made funny viewing - seriously -  LOL!

Special thanks go out to my BFF Jilly and our darling god-daughter Natasha too.  We love you guys and we couldn't have done it without you!

I also want to share several photos over the next few days but for now I am just sharing this special one.

These are mom's 4 kids (my hubby is on right) taken amid the sunshine in Deb's back yard.  There were many tears this time around (we seemed to take it in turns each day) but it's good to remember that there were many smiles - and I'm sure mom was smiling down on us too. Love you guys!

We came home, unloaded the car and then went straight to bed for a couple of hours.  When we woke up we discovered our girls had got their heads together and left us dinner, dessert, chocolate and even got in milk for that ever important cup of tea! So thoughtful of them - you know how I love my tea - thanks girls, love ya :-).

It will take us a couple days to recover from the journey - seems like it gets harder the older we get and I have had to grab mom's cardigan to wear cos we've come back to cold weather - at least it feels real cold compared to the weather we had back home.  We've swapped air con for heaters (well almost) I haven't actually put the heater on yet but I just might.

I'll be back in circulation real soon.  For now I think it's a soak in a hot bath tub and an early night so Dave and I can make church tomorrow and then get geared up for work on Monday.

Thanks so much for all your prayers and kind wishes.

Love Suezie

Mom

I have very little time as we fly out early tomorrow to be with family but I couldn't go without sharing our sad family news and the reason why we're making this trip.  Sadly Mom lost her 24 year battle with leukeamia a few days ago and so this trip is one we knew would eventually come one day and one that is going to be tough.  I always said I only ever made that 12 hour flight for mom cos I'm not crazy about flying - two, maybe three hours and I'm ok but I freak out about flying over the ocean and being in a plane longer than that.  Now I'm makin the trip for mom one last time!

I thought I would share just a few photos with you since I have been sorting through my pictures to take a CD back home with us.

This photo was taken the last time we went back to see mom - we never stayed long enough and there was always way too much time that passed in between visits.  Over the years we developed little rituals like a family meal on our last night so this was taken on one of those occasions.

Mom would no doubt hate this shot and she was forever glaring at me and telling me to 'put that camera away' but I'm glad I didn't listen to her or I wouldn't have gotten shots like this.  We took a trip to Scotland but it was pretty cold so she picked up this beany hat - always the 'well dressed' traveller - that was mom LOL! We saw far more of the UK (including Scotland, Ireland and Wales) than we would of done otherwise so we have many happy travels to remember her by too.

In fact it was because of mom that we all got to meet the Queen!  While mom got to say hello to her I had two choices - say hello or shove my camera in her face - I think you know which one I went for!  Even more exciting we later found 3 local newspapers which all featured a shot with guess who (besides her Maj that is) in them? - only MOM that's who! 

And here she is horsin around - such a character!  She lived for her faith and her family.

And this is one of my favourite photos of mom.  She was busy crocheting one of those fab pot holders in the back seat during one of our many journeys.  I'm so glad I finally asked her to show me how to make these.  Anyone I know who has been lucky enough to get one knows just how neat they are!  Mom showed me how to do a great many things over the years - some of them things I am now passing on to my own children.

And then of course there was the time we surprised her and showed up just in time for dinner on Christmas Day - our first all together for 20 years!  Thanks to snow it had taken Dave and I three days to get there and boy when she got a hold of me I didn't think I was ever gonna draw breath again - she hugged me so tight and sooooooo long!  There is no doubt in my mind that she loved me every bit as much as I loved her.

I am so very thankful that we have a whole lifetime of memories to comfort us right now and tho' we'll be staying at mom's - it will never be quite the same again.  I could share a whole bunch more photos, stories and memories to go along with them but it's midnight now and we have a flight to catch in the morning.

So I'm makin that journey one more time - and mom this one's for you!